New upgrades from the previous F-4 include a much more
comfortable 45-Grip frame, new wide trigger shoe, and the
trigger pull of only 2.2 lbs.! The gun has no external moving parts
meaning less maintenance and less chance of breakdowns. All
moving parts are hardened or hard anodized for long life. ACI's
new patented valve system is proven to be the most air efficient
in the industry allowing the F4 to operate in all temperature
ranges with over 800 shots off of your 9oz. tank.
Product Availability
The ACI F4 Illustrator is older, so while it may be available used and in a few cases new, it is not commonly available anymore.
Places to Buy
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There's a great deal of good about this marker. A stock 45 frame, a relatively quick field strip system (field stripping means clearing out the bolt, and that takes all of 5-10 seconds with practice.), ease of maintenance and durability.
Weaknesses:
The stock trigger grip is plastic and just awful - I replaced my old one with a Hogue wrap around IMMEDIATELY. Also, the stock barrel isn't so hot, as per usual. The trigger's mediocore, and can't be lightened with springs. Sadly, the F4's become a bit dated with other markers improving - most notably the Piranha. What used to be a great field stripping system in the F4 now seems cumbersome and dated compared to the 1-2 second clearance of the Piranha.
Conclusion:
Stock performance is on par or better than most of the guns in it's range, and it used to be an excellent value. With the introduction of guns like the Piranha line, the F4's sadly become dated in technology. While not at all a bad gun if you can get it for cheap, I'd recommend buying a Piranha if you're buying a NEW marker.
This gun is good right out of the box. Add a barrel, bolt,
and remote and you've got the best gun for under $250. ACI
Zero Gravity barrel gives it great accuracy. 8-9 shots per
second. Great in cold weather. TRICK, Hold the hammer back
and pull the trigger to fake going liquid and draw the
enemy in for the kill.
Weaknesses:
poor accuracy with stock barrel
hard to field strip,40 seconds with practice.
chops balls if you don't use a revolution.
Trigger shoe needs occasional tightening.
Conclusion:
Good gun for the money for the newbie or intermediate
player. Easier to maintain than the spyder. Get those
upgrades, keep it lubed, and let the paint fly.
Thundercat (most cost effective), spider, automag, Nova
Marker Setup:
A few custom accessories, mostly stock
Recommended Upgrades:
The stock barrel is a tube with threads - definitely should be upgraded, like all stock barrels. (Why does that never change?)
Strengths:
The F4 is a very tried and true (its basically an F2), dependable design, and I it has performed well. Like all paintguns of this type, rate of fire is moderate, and the stock barrel provides little accuracy, but the design is fairly trouble free. Importantly, I have never experienced ball breakage problems, which seem common among the newer entries into the market, except when using Brass Eagle paint, which someone gave me, and proved to break about every fifth ball. This, of course, is pretty good performance for Brass Eagle paint, and in no way reflects negatively on the marker.
Weaknesses:
ACI did take a significant shortcut in the design of the bottle connector on the front of the gun. The bottle mount is connected by a small screw through its center which engages about two threads through a thin web of aluminum. This is unfortunate, as the gun is far from having a weight problem and just widening the body extrustion by 3/16 of an inch would have made a world of difference on the durability here (the F2 did not have the forward mount). As is, the marker must, for all practical purposes, be used with a bottomline (and naturally that comes stock), and vertically mounting a bottle would be an almost guaranteed way to strip the retaining screw from its mount, permanently ruining the extrusion. If an expansion chamber is mounted here, the user must take careful of accidential impacts to the marker (don't drop it) for the same reason. The marker is also bulkier than it needs be, and a little refinement in the design would compact it a bit.
Conclusion:
The F4 is reliable if taken care of, but not durable.
Excellent for beginners to intermediate players.
Very solid, reliable.
The totally enclosed design makes it easy to maintain .
I played in sand, dirt, and grass fields. Nothing gets inside.
Even subzero temps do not affect this gun (the Co2 is the problem, go for air)
Weaknesses:
TThe trigger is on the heavy side.
Conclusion:
The best all around marker for its price range.
Knowing what I know now, I would buy one again
Stainless Steel Barrel, Expansion Chamber, 20 oz. CO2 tank, Air Riffle Site
Recommended Upgrades:
Barrel ( any kind ), Bolt, and what ever you want.
Strengths:
Everything, great distance, with my tank I can get 2222 shots, shoots straigh as a arrow, quiet, great for sniping, or speed ball, easy to clean ,and with this maker I was able in 2 different games I hit my friend in the same spot on his mask with out aiming for his head
Weaknesses:
Few upgrades, but that's nothing to hold against it
Conclusion:
This is a good buy, I have had no problems with it, I haven't found a paint brand it chops yet, and when I got it from my friend I found out he never cleaned it for the 2 years he had it, and it worked as good as my friends HIGHLY upgraded Spyder TL. I say that this is a great maker for any one beginner or Pro
F4 illustrator, aci sub-zero 6stage ex-chamber, all- american t 12" tear drop barrel, 12-v revvy with x board, venturi bolt, 20-oz co2
Recommended Upgrades:
aci ex-chamber MUST
electric hopper
barrel
Strengths:
no external moving parts
field stripable ( 2mjn your back in the game)
Weaknesses:
choppes balls with out electric hopper
Review:
this gun is great for all beginner's as well as experienced player's it work's well in cold weather! easy to upgrade, good for price $130-$160 compatible with spyder barrels
and just an all around great gun. i now use his gun as my back upsince i bought my spyder e-99, i have also have beatin people with cockers,mags angel's spyders ect
i have even beaten a pro/am before like i said befor this gun does wonder's
Conclusion:
buy buy buy buy buy buy this gun, it is one of the best as far as blow back marker's
i give it a nine because of the ball chopping. but other than that it is a very good reliable gun. must buy!!!
I've tested a spyder shutter, BE stingray II; this is the only gun I've ever owned, though
Marker Setup:
'99 "Wicked Grey" F4 Illustrator, running on CO2, with Dye Aluminum 12" barrel
Recommended Upgrades:
-aftermarket barrel, I think Dye makes good ones, but Lapco is also good (bigshot, etc.), and you could get pretty inexpensive ones from Custom Products
-I would recommend upgrading to HPA from CO2, and I plan to after I get some dough
-other than that, you could get a double trigger and frame from ACI, a motorized hopper, expansion chamber (if on CO2) or regulator (if on HPA)
Strengths:
-inexpensive
-dependable
-not a gas hog
-low-maintenance
-good customer service at ACI
Weaknesses:
-hard on paint if it's cheap paint
-relatively slow ROF
Review:
When I first bought this gun, I went paintballing using Viewloader paintballs. I found out, the hard way, that the F4 is pretty hard on paint. I broke around a quarter of the balls that I shot, and I was pretty depressed about buying the gun (for about $120). The next time I went, I had better paint. I used RPS paintballs, and I didn't break a single ball, so it wasn't the gun.
I think there is little that can be said to distinguish the gun from other blowbacks. It has a rate of fire that is a little slow, so it's probably not the best gun for a "spray-and-pray" paintballer. It works great, however, if you just want to fire quick, three-shot bursts.
I've never had any problems at all with my gun, but I've heard from several people that ACI has great customer service and that they will repair any problems you have. Also, there are a couple owners groups online, and they also have people that can help you through any problems or answer any questions. (www.f4og.com)
Conclusion:
It's a good gun, for a good price. It gets the job done, and you don't need to do that much maintenance or take it into the shop every other month.
I have to say that I am very satisfied with the F4's performance. I believe it is just as good as any other spyder, tippman, pirrhana, or anything else in its class, but I can't say that it's a whole lot better, so I'll give it a 9
ACI F4 ILLUSTRATOR WITH VIEW LOADER 200, and a 12 ounce C02 tank.
Recommended Upgrades:
I recommend that you get a different trigger because the stock trigger is kind of stiff and sometimes gets stuck.
Strengths:
It is light weight and very comfortable.
Weaknesses:
The accuracy on it isn't all that great even with a new barrel.
Review:
The ACI F4 ILLUSTRATOR is a pretty good gun. You just have to be able to take off the barrel realy fast and lean it because the paintballs easily break on this gun. Allways carry spare parts with you because the gun get messed up after about 10 games so always carry spare parts and a backup gun. I like it because you can get behind bunkers and the gun will not get in the way. If the gun gets hit, don't worry because it won't effect the performance of the gun.
Conclusion:
Overall it is a great gun and will last a long time if you maintain it properly. If you do that, i guarentee that this gun will work for you. This gun is also great for beginners.
Spyder Imagine - Much Better
Tipppmann 98 Custom - Much Better
Marker Setup:
Kingman Spyder Imagine LED 2k4
Smart Parts Progressive 14" Barrel
Empire Reloader 2
Kingman ESP Classic E-Frame C.A.M.D.
Pure Energy 20 oz. CO2 Tank
Recommended Upgrades:
New Barrel
New Trigger and Frame
New Bolt
Strengths:
Lightweight
Weaknesses:
Horrible Stock Parts
Slow
Easily Breaks
Loads balls terribly
Few upgrades
Just plain bad
Review:
I tried these guns out as rentals at Herbie's Paintball in Nevada twice so I think I can give a review. First though, I thought these were terrible guns. According to the reivews, they should be pretty good, so they MAY have been mishandled a few times.
First, the positives. This gun was lightweight...and...well that's about it.
Now the negatives, and these aren't in short supply and are what I have noticed both times using the gun. First off, the gun failed to fire 20 rounds without breaking a ball, and I was firing slow (like 3-4 bps) to avoid breaking, but got plenty of breaks anyway.
The stock parts are terrible on this gun. The bolt chops a large number of balls and always jams up. The gun has recocking problems a lot, even with a full air CO2 tank. Sometimes I'll take around 5 shots and have to recock every time. The barrel is really small and inaccurate and shoots curve balls every time. The front grip is tiny and hard to grab. The single trigger is extremely slow too. And then, there are a very small amount of upgrades, so you're stuck with this crappy gun.
The gun is terribly unreliable and won't hold up for many games. I had to walk back up to the staging area every few games due to problems with the gun I'll talk about later. Some of these problems required the whole gun to be taken apart to fix. Balls are extremely prone to jammingin the odd way they are loaded into the gun.
The balls are loaded in a sort of weird angle and are visible with nothing to protect them from falling out. Hold it the wrong way and you'll get balls falling out of the gun. Paint breaks frequently inside there as well, and sometimes you can just keep shooting and breaking paint through the break and it will eventually clen itself somewhat. But sometimes you have to remove the entire bolt and clean it out.
Conclusion:
Overall, this gun is terribly bad for the price of $200, which I was shocked to see. I thought this was a $50 gun, no doubt. Few ups, bad parts, unreliability, and other things I mentioned all make this gun not worth getting.
F4 Illustrator with 13.5 inch zero gravity barrel,sub-zero expansion chamber,with venturi bolt.
Recommended Upgrades:
13.5 inch zero gravity barrel. sub zero 4 stage expansion chamber, a venturi bolt,and a 32degree coiled remote.
Strengths:
X-tremely co2 sufficiant,sleek,extremely durible,and doesnt break many balls.
Weaknesses:
none!!!
Review:
I own the older 98'model f4 and it is 1 bad-ass marker!! I love its slick body and unbeatable preformance for a gun in its price range and its rock hard duribility.Ive been using this gun for a lil over 2 years now and its never let me down in a game of stalker and sniper.With the 13.5 inch zero gravity barrel, this markers acuracy is top-notch,very quiet,and is superb for 1 shot 1 kill.The 98'edition is much more attractive and confortible to weild with its nice handgrip where as the 1 above seems quite unconfortible to hold.The price is very reasonible for such a great gun!!!This gun easily competes with my friends Pianha e-force.Basicly I recomend this gun to anyone that wants a good gun that reliable and trustworthy.
Conclusion:
I give this gun a 10 because it's as close to perfect as you can get to peeeeerfect and can't be beat for the price and its supreme preformance!!! Thanks for reading. Hope this review hashelped!
